Gurston Championship Rounds 1-4 2025 Review
Gurston Down 2ndand 3rdMay 2026 by John Brown
CARS
The 2026 season at Gurston Down began on 2nd and 3rd May with the first 4 rounds of the Turbo Dynamics Gurston Down Championship and the first two rounds of the Online Cleaning Technologies Top Ten Challenge.
Apart from a rainy spell from mid afternoon through to the close of play on the Saturday conditions were dry throughout but it was not a weekend for breaking class records, though several class target times were beaten as will be described later. Neither the reigning champion, Clive Stangle, nor the reigning Top 10 Challenge winner, Terry Graves, was present but we did have a fair number of regular Championship runners together with a few interesting new entrants and cars.
New for this year was Class 14 for Classic Clubmans cars of the type which were very popular on the hills in the 1980s and 90s (the class record was set in 1997) and which are still active in speed events and race circuits around the country. Just 3 runners took up the challenge this time around but as will be seen they soon made their mark.
As in 2025 the best 14 scores from 20 rounds of the Championships will count while double points will be awarded to a driver’s best two runs from Rounds 3,4,19 and 20. In the Top 10 Challenge it is 7 best from 10 and double points to the better of rounds 2 and 10.
The championship is scored against a target set for each class which is based on times set by contenders in the last 2 seasons, or exceptionally from earlier years if no times are available. If a competitor equals their target they get 20 points, if they improve against the target they get 20 points plus the amount of the improvement, and if they fail to meet the target they get 20 minus the amount that they fall short. If a target is broken it is immediately reset for the next round of the Championship so that by the end of a weekend there could have been 4 separate targets set for the one class.
After the motorcycles had had their runs, the invitation classes began the car runs each day – on both days we had runners in the Downton Motor Club Speed Championship and the Midland Speed Championship and they were joined on Sunday by Triumphs in the TR Register Speed Championship.
Last year in the Downton class we saw the class record being reduced to 33.52 by Richard Burnett in his Westfield but the class winner on both days, Mark Everett in his TVR Griffith 500, was a good few seconds away from that with two consistent times of 37.24 (Sat) and 37.21 (Sun). Second on Saturday was Harry Whitehead in his turbocharged Mazda MX5 from Zak Cobb in his BMW Mini Cooper S but the positions were reversed on Sunday.
Just 4 runners from the Midland Speed Championship participated and it was Matt Bramall in the Caterham Super 7, shared with brother Chris, who won on both days (36.71 and 36.11) followed by Aaron Perrott in his supercharged Aston Martin Vantage.
Although there were 16 entries for the TR Register class these were reduced by non-arrivals and problems in practice to just 10 fit runners. Winner was Steve Small in his TR7 V8 with a time of 37.34 with Robert McGregor’s potent Dolomite Sprint second on 39.53.
The Gurston classes began with the Standard cars class, still not a Championship class. Thomas Cuff, son of David and brother of Lucy, made his debut in a Renault Twingo but was outpaced by Andrew Till in his Honda Civic Type R who took the class with a 42.02 (Sat) and a 42.10 (Sun), some 5-6 seconds ahead of Thomas. An interesting addition to the class on Sunday was Alison Lock in her Fiat Panda, a driver we have previously seen in the Welsh Championship class driving a somewhat faster Mitsubishi Evo!
Class 4a for Road going Series Production Cars up to 1400 cc saw a renewal of the battle that has raged for a few years now between John Davey (MG Midget) and David Nutland (Mini Cooper S) with only Mark Brown’s Mini as competition on the Saturday. Just 0.1 sec separated John from David on Saturday’s first run but John then found another 4/10ths to win with a 40.45 to David’s 40.95. On the Sunday we additionally welcomed Steve Holley and Andrew Thorp in their familiar Ford Fiesta and the Fishers in their Midget and while John Davey again won the class, this time in 40.02 (as against a target time of 39.39) it was Steve Holley who took second from Nutland after David had a problem on his first run and could not find enough of an improvement on his second run.
There were just 2 drivers in the Class 4-MX5 class with Chris Burch and Richard Morton sharing their familiar ex Mark Crookall car out again for another season in what is looking like an ever more “well-used” car. Chris provided the first excitement of the Saturday with a familiar verge hopping passage of Carousel which enabled Richard (39.61) to take the lead. Neither driver improved on the second run, which surprised Chris who seemed to have been much neater through Carousel this time around! On the Sunday while Richard led on the first run, Chris running in the batch ahead of him on the second run sneaked into the lead before Richard reasserted his authority with a best of the weekend 39.57 to take his second win.
In Class 4b for Road going Series Production Cars between 1401 and 2000 cc we saw the renewal, on the Saturday, of recent battles between Daniel Friel and Russell Davies in their Honda Civic Type Rs. Last year they had not clashed as Russell had only appeared early in the season after a damaging off at Three Sisters but in 2024 their rivalry had led to Russell getting below 38 seconds and it was that time of 37.93 which now set a tough target for him to beat this year. Daniel is not registered in the Championship and only climbed on Saturday but a list of their times shows what we have been missing – Daniel (39.21), Russell (39.26); Daniel then going into the lead with a 38.95 before Russell found a bit more for 38.79 and the win. On Sunday Russell had no real opposition and finished with a 38.84, some 4.85 secs ahead of Philip Pickering in his Mazda.
Class 4c (Road going Series Production Cars over 2000 cc) had 2 different entries each day with none of them Championship registered. Gary Hull sharing Aaron’ Perrott’s Aston Martin Vantage won on Saturday (38.93) from Jon Young’s MG ZS (43.30) while on Sunday it was Graham Ramsay in his Seat Leon Cupra who came through on the second run with 42.04 to topple first run leader Paul Wheatley’s BMW Mini Cooper S (43.30).
Class 4d for Road going Specialist Production Cars saw the familiar sight of Clive Skipper in his Caterham 7 HPC winning on both days (33.97 and 33.44) from Adrian Lewis, back out in his Westfield Superbusa and taking second on 34.70 and 34.16. Those times for Clive qualified him for the Top 12 run-off each day. An unfortunate non-starter was Rob Brodie in his Fisher Fury while Gary Dawkins’ supercharged Lotus Exige provided welcome variety from the numerous Locaterfields.
With Clive and Jenny Stangle missing from Class 4-4WD in their Mitsubishi it was a small field of cars in which Richard Mullis in his Audi TT (39.53) won on the Saturday from Simon Neve’s Mitsubishi Lancer GSR, while both were topped by Steve Cox in his VW Golf R on Sunday with 35.87 from Richard’s 38.16. Richard’s Audi came to a halt just after Hollow on his second run.
With Phil Price now apparently retired and Paul Slade not entered this month it was only Graham Beale in his familiar Ginetta G33, now with a new smoother re-profiled bonnet, who was entered in Class 6 for Marque Sports Cars over 2000 cc. Times of 34.45 (Sat) and 34.04 (Sun) earned him good Championship points against his target of 33.64.
Nail Turner is still waiting for an engine for his familiar modified Mini and was running this meeting in a Jedi single seater and it was just David Bean in his Mini who ran in Class 7 for Modified Production cars up to 1400 cc, recording best times of 43.33 (Sat) and 44.08 (Sun).
Following problems in practice on Saturday, Luke Chard-Maple who had come so close to winning the Championship in 2025, was not seen again and this left just Karl Stevens in his Ford Escort Mk2 in Class 8, Modified Production Cars 1401 to 2000 cc. On his first run on Saturday Karl set a 36.77 against a target of 36.73 and then on Sunday he beat the target with a 36.49 and then beat the reset target with a 36.29 which left him leading the Championship at the end of the weekend on 80.05 points with the possibility that his Sunday scores might also be doubled at the end of the season.
The first sub-target time of the weekend came on Saturday in Class 9-4WD for Modified cars with 4WD when Jim Herbert in his Mitsubishi Evo recorded 33.67 against a target of 33.83. With a 33.70 on the second run he left the hill on Saturday leading the Championship but despite promising to take it easy on Sunday he went off on his second practice run and so failed to record a time / points score. Stephen Moore in his Evo failed to get under 34 seconds on Saturday but was second in class, while on Sunday he took just one run and recorded a 33.80 to take the class in Herbert’s absence.
Robert Pallett in his Ginetta G20 was the only runner in Class 11 for Modified Specialist Production Cars on Saturday and recorded a best time of 38.08, but on Sunday he was joined by and beaten by Paul Meyer in his Westfield Megabus who won with a 35.26.
Two familiar faces competed for the top spot in Class 13 for Historically Interesting cars: Fyrth Crosse and Mike Broome in their respective ex F3 Ensign and Alexis cars. Fyrth won on both days with 35.88 and 35.78. They were joined on Sunday by the interesting Heaton Rudd Monoposto of Gerry Richards. This car was built by Jack Heaton-Rudd in 1969 and competed in circuit racing until 1975. It runs a 1600 cross- flow engine and its bodywork is a combination of Dulon MP15 and March 733 panels.
Class 14 for Classic Clubmans cars had 3 entries but problems for Ben Rolls’ Mallock saw him only take 1 timed run on Saturday before heading home and not re-appearing on Sunday. Victory on both days went to Luke Trotman’s Mallock from Charles Jones’ Mallock and it was in this class that the target time (34.96) suffered the most damage with a series of runs as follows: Round 1 – Jones 34.76, Trotman 34.59 (new target for Round 2 but not beaten); Round 3 – Jones 34.11 (new target for Round 4), Trotman 34.46 (also sub target); Jones 34.75, Trotman 33.95, which becomes the new target for Round 5 in June. At the end of the weekend the 2 of them finished up 2nd and 3rd in the championship standings Jones on 79.72 points and Trotman on 79.52 points.
Tim Pitfield has driven his DJ Firecat in Class 15a for Sports Libre Cars under 1400cc for many years and set the class record of 31.62 as long as 2019. As this was more than 2 years ago it is not considered when setting the target for the class which is the 33.63 that Tim set in 2025, after he had had a miserable time with the car in 2024. On his first run on Saturday he went below the target with 33.49 before then recording times of 33.50 and 33.38 on Sunday to set himself another new target for June. He was the only runner in the class. He lies 4th in the Championship with 79.19 points
The ex-Clive Wooster Radical of Paul Davies was the only runner in Class 15b for Sports Libre Cars between 1401 and 2000 cc. Just as he was starting his 2nd run on Saturday, after recording a 32.60 on his first run, it began to rain and although the clocks recorded a time of 33.50 secs he was judged to have left the track at the finish line and his time was scrubbed. He dragged a lot of grass onto the track and we had the sight of marshals with a leaf-blower clearing it away. On Sunday his best time was 32.42.
Class 16a for Rally Cars had just Steven Hall in his Talbot Sunbeam, a car he purchased 28 years ago for £30. On Saturday after recording a 40.97 he was then red-flagged as a result of the grass blowing required as described above and by the time he got his re0run the rain had intensified and he could not better 48.44. On Sunday his best time was 41.34.
The effect of the rain was clearly seen in Class 18 for Racing Cars up to 600 cc. Calum and Euan Kemp were sharing the driving of their OMS Hornet and Calum was the fortunate one to go in an earlier batch on the second run before the rain when he improved his earlier time from 39.19 to 38.58. By the time brother Euan ran the conditions meant he recorded 47.68 against a first run time of 39.09. Both were beaten by Reg Allen in his Jedi who won the class with a 37.42 from his first run. None of them ran on Sunday.
As is normal for Gurston Down these days the class for Racing Cars between 601 and 1100 cc (Class 19) was well populated although it was missing the familiar face of Steve Loadsman who retired at the end of last season. As mentioned earlier Neil Turner was running in this class in a Jedi while David Cuff was in a familiar car, but one new to him – the ex – James Moore Empire (Evo) 00. Another interesting combination was Mark Bevington and his nephew Charlie Rodwell in the ex Jason Robinson OMS 2000M, a step-up from the Isuzu Bellett saloon they ran last year. On Saturday the only runs to count were the first ones: Mark Crookall and Ben Bonfield in their OMS and Jedi respectively set the pace with Mark winning with 31.00 to Ben’s 31.05. Ben tried his second run on slicks on the wet track but a spin at the bottom of Carousel saw him heading back to the paddock to change his tyres in readiness for the run-off. On Sunday, Mark was struggling with a clutch problem but he managed to drive around it to win the class again with a 30.64 from Ben’s 30.90.
Only one of the remaining classes had more than one entry. While Stephen Snell (Class 20, Racing Cars 1101 to 1600 cc) – 33.11 (Sat) and 32.54 (Sun), Ben Pitfield (Class 20a, Formula Ford Cars) – 38.00 (Sat) and 39.09 (Sun) and Paul Crute (Class 22 Racing Cars over 2000cc) – 32.33 (Sat) and 32.97 (Sun) ran alone, in Class 21a Racing Cars 1601 to 2000 cc, Steve Holland in his Force TA had opposition from Nigel Pitt in his Dallara F305 on both days and won with times of 30.10 (Sat) and 29.05 (Sun) which were the FTDs.
The qualifiers for the Top 12 run-off each day were very similar with the only difference being the replacement of Jim Herbert by Dylan Ferrett between Saturday and Sunday. With the track wet there were three non-starters in Saturday’s run-off – Clive Skipper, Tim Pitfield and David Cuff. After the first 4 runners it was Paul Davies in his Radical which led with a 39.29 and this resisted the efforts of all but Steve Holland (37.16) and Ben Bonfield (38.56). Second fastest qualifier Mark Crookall fell to 8th in the run-off with 41.62 owing to his old wet tyres not having very much grip. Nigel Pitt (39.32) and Paul Crute (39.87) completed the top 5. Paul had an exciting day as a pheasant collided with his car at the top of the track bending a steering arm and damaging a front wing but it was all fixed for Sunday.
Steve Holland repeated his win in Sunday’s run-off with 29.74 and Mark Crookall on a dry track recovered to finish second on 30.73, ahead of Ben Bonfield on 30.90. This time Stephen Snell came up to 4th with 32.30 while Paul Davies added a 5th to Saturday’s 3rd with 32.40, just 3/100ths faster than David Cuff. This time it was Nigel Pitt (8th) and Paul Crute (11th) who fell down the order compared to Saturday’s positions. So Steve Holland heads into the June meeting with 20 points from Ben Bonfield on 17 and Paul Davies on 14.
Motor Bikes
The Auto Cycle Union Championship runners opened the running on both days and on the Sunday we also had a Top Ten run-off for them.
A wide variety of solo bikes from 249 cc to 1301 cc were joined by a Morgan F Type 3 wheeler in the Trike class and 3 varied sidecars.
In the 100-250 class Patrick Evans on his KTM won a 2 bike battle against David Barker on his Yamaha on both days with times of 37.70 (Sat.) and 37.52 (Sun.).
The most popular class was the 351-500 one and this was led on both days by Cameron Williams on his Aprilia (35.15, 34.88) with Guy Ursell (Husqvarna) second on Saturday and Pete Short (KTM), who did not run on Saturday, second on Sunday with Ursell in third.
In the 501-750 class Chris Keates won on Saturday on his KTM in 35.82 from Mark Williams on a Honda, but on Sunday Callum Short turned up on his KTM to take the class on 34.27 from Keates on 35.97.
The biggest engined solo bikes (751-1400) were led on both days by Paul Jeffery on his 890 cc KTM (34.63, 34.18) with David Peat on his 796 cc KTM second.
The Morgan F Type – eligible for the Trike class with its 2 front wheels and one driven rear only appeared on Saturday and recorded a best of 63.29 with Nancy Thomas and Chris McGallan.
The oldest of the 3 sidecars was the Foster BMW of brothers Mark and James Foster but they were well beaten by Mark’s brother Simon and partner Jayne on their F2 Honda engined CBR who also qualified for the top ten run off on Sunday. Their best times were 37.45 (Sat.) and 36.75 (Sun.). Completing the field were Kevin and Sara Dewell on their familiar green F1 Windle Kawasaki who finished second on both days with a best of 40.03.
The top ten run off on Sunday was dominated by KTMs with the first 4 finishing in the order Callum Short (637cc – 34.16), just ahead of Paul Jeffery (890 cc – 34.17), then Pete Short (470cc – 34.53) and David Peat (796 cc – 34.77). Best non-KTM was Cameron Williams on his Aprilia in 5th on 34.85, while the Fosters finished 9th on their sidecar on 36.60.
